


Importance

by kuriwrites



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Catra is She-Ra, F/F, gets gayer, more ships later??, probably angst, slow burn??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 18:30:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17309696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuriwrites/pseuds/kuriwrites
Summary: AU- Catra is She-Ra. (Also He-Man doesn't exist.)Catra grapples with the new-found responsibility and place she has in the Horde as She-Ra. The limits of childhood promises and present-day trust are tested.





	Importance

Crashing the skiff was not exactly how Catra wanted to start the Whispering Woods adventure. But it was okay, cats always fall on their feet after all. Catra planted herself onto the ground. Then she heard screaming.

"C-CATRA!"

Right. Adora fell, too.

Catra looked up to see where Adora was, attempting to catch her best friend. Immediately, she was greeted with the sight of Adora, plummeting down only a few inches above her. "Uh-oh." In a frenzied panic, she shielded herself with her arms, attempting to lessen the impact. The two crashed into a heap. While the pair being smushed together wasn't exactly unpleasant; it was cut short. Adora groaned as she stood up from Catra's body, brushing off dirt and dust from her red jacket. She held out her hand to Catra who took it, helping to hoist the catgirl up. "That was _not_ how that was supposed to go," Adora said, her eyes scanning their surroundings. "Come on Catra let's find the skiff you crashed."

Catra's face twisted in disbelief. "What? We came out here to have fun, and we're already going home? And, for the record," she crossed her arms, "we _both_ crashed it."

Adora rolled her eyes and punched Catra's shoulder lightly, smiling. "I can borrow a skiff again if you want. But right now we need to make sure we can get home. Who knows what Shadow Weaver would say if she found out we were here?"

Catra deflated at the mention, but Adora had a point. It'd suck if they were stuck in Rebellion territory and if Shadow Weaver found out... Catra's ears turned back against her head. "Fine, fine. Let's go." Before Catra turned to go search, she saw a flash through the corner of her eyes. Something was glowing. She tapped Adora on the shoulder, then pointed at the white light. "Hey, Adora, what's that?"

"I," she hesitated, "don't know. Should we-"

Catra felt some sort of tug. Her animal instincts were leading her towards whatever the glow was. Catra grinned. "I'm checking it out."

"Wait- Catra!" Adora's words fell on deaf ears. Her feline friend was already advancing at a lightning-fast pace. Adora raced after her. No way were they going to separate in the middle of the Whispering Woods, and, to be honest, Adora was curious about whatever the light could be, too.

The white rays of light were not as bright as they seemed, and Catra whistled as she saw what lay ahead. Trapped in overgrown vines was a sword with a golden hilt and a large stone embedded in it. To put it simply, it was pretty sweet. "This is so sick." Catra grasped the handgrip of the sword and yelped.

White covered her vision. 

* * *

Catra was transported into a foreign place. A voice spoke. " _Balance must be_ _restored_." Images of the land and some stone flashed in Catra's mind. " _Etheria_ _must seek a hero._ " Then, the sword, some ruin, and a princess appeared as visions, too. The mysterious voice finally showed herself. "My name is Light Hope. I have been waiting a long time for you, but I could not reach you until you until you forged your connection with the sword. Etheria needs you, Catra."

"What the hell do you mean? I-I'm not some hero, and I'm one hundred percent sure I'm not Etheria's-."

"Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull, Catra?"

Catra didn't answer immediately, because honestly, pissing off people with mind powers was not Catra's idea of a fun time. But fighting for Grayskull or whatever couldn't possibly be worse than Shadow Weaver, so why not? "Sure, whatever, I'll fight for the honor of Grayskull." White filled Catra's vision again, but instead of being frightening, it felt like power was thrumming through her being.

* * *

 "Catra!" Adora yelled.

Catra snapped back to reality. "What the-!" She glanced at the sword, still in her hand. "Huh?" Her normal clothes were gone and were replaced by an outfit which was not her style. White skirt, shorts, gold vambrace, and whatever the top was supposed to be, she looked like a standard princess. Catra checked her reflection in the sword—her sword. "This is... me?" Certainly, many of the larger details of her appearance were different what with her clothes and much longer hair, but her ears, eyes, and face were the same. That was a small relief. Though before long, disbelief settled in Catra's psyche. "No way this is real." Catra pinched herself extra hard. "Ow!"

"Catra? Was that you?" Adora's head poked through some bushes. "Where-" Adora's face hardened into a scowl. " _Princess._ "

"What?"

Adora leaped out of the bushes into a combat stance. "What have you done with Catra?" 

"Woah woah woah, wait!" Catra held her free hand out, motioning for Adora to stop.

"The Horde told me all about you princesses. You're menaces who can't even control their own power!" Adora looked into Catra's eyes. "Is this some kind of disguise magic? Did you eat her? You can't fool me; Catra wasn't even wearing that, and she definitely isn't eight feet tall."

Catra answered, panicked. "It's me, Catra! I swear I don't know what happened. I just-" Adora furrowed her eyebrows.

"Is that a mouse?!" Adora yelled pointing behind Catra.

Catra's ears and tail perked up. "Where?!" she exclaimed, searching faithfully.

Adora blew out an elongated breath, "It really is you." 

Catra glowered. "You could've proven that, like, a _million_ other ways. Come on, you literally did it this morning." Catra was put at ease, though. The lack of laughter meant that Adora was taking this at least a bit seriously.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, Catra. I just- freaked out."

"About a princess?"

"Yeah, I mean, I thought she hurt you. I'm a force captain now, Catra." Adora looked away. "If I can't take a princess then what good am I?" At those words, through the quiet of the forest, Catra's eyes were drawn downwards at the sound of Adora's shoes scuffing against the ground. She was shuffling her feet.

"I think you're plenty good, Adora." Catra sat down, it was kind of uncomfortable to talk with Adora when she was so tall.  Adora followed suit. "I mean, Shadow Weaver did choose you for force captain and all." In truth, Catra was still detached from the situation. Adora and she were supposed to be partners in crime, but of course, Shadow Weaver would take that away, too.

There was a comfortable silence for a moment, and during it, Catra was able to take in the peacefulness of their surroundings. The only real sound was the rustling of the leaves. "I was wondering." Adora looked Catra up and down. "Are you stuck like... that?" 

"Uh," Catra thought quickly. If the sword turned her into a princess then... "No way! I can turn back, watch this!" Catra threw the sword into the nearest tree, felling it. With a flash, she was just Catra once more.

"You could've just dropped it, you know."

"Aw, but I just helped the Horde remove a part of the Whispering Woods."

Adora chuckled in response. "What can that form do anyway?"

Catra stuck out her tongue, jokingly. "What's it matter to you, Adora?"

Adora rolled her eyes. "What is this finder's keepers, but for secrets?"

"Yep.  _My_  sword turns me into a princess!" Catra said, smugly.

"Catra, come on, be serious. We have to tell Shadow Weaver about this."

All traces of a smile disappeared from Catra's face. "What? What do you mean _we_? And why? It's my sword; shouldn't I make the call?"

"Look, this is our chance Catra!" Adora clasped Catra's hand within hers. "There's no way Shadow Weaver can say no to promoting you to Force Captain once you show her princess you! We'll for sure be together again."

Catra removed her hand from Adora's, face downcast. "Shadow Weaver? Promote me? Pfft. You're funny, Adora." Catra turned her head downwards as if looking Adora in the eyes would be dangerous.

"Hey, it'll be okay. We'll figure this out together—like we always do," Adora said. "And, even if Shadow Weaver still says no, it's not like I could ever just leave you."

Catra lifted her head, ears up and blinked slowly.

"You promise?"

She tensed as Adora rubbed her back. "I promise." Even with Adora's assurance, somehow she knew that things wouldn't be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> I have big plans for this fic. Huge plans. I have a general outline of story beats I want to hit, and I sure hope they all hit hard. This is probably going to be one of the lightest chapters. But, rest assured, it gets angstier, it gets gayer, it gets way more involved. And I for sure am adding more characters later (right now I'm deciding if I want to tag future ships.) I am very excited to see how this fic will come to life and evolve.
> 
> I tried to make this first chapter able to be read as a standalone, because well, I like it when chapters feel like little stories by themselves. In terms of small bits of flavor I added for this chapter specifically, I researched (very lightly) about cat behavioral patterns to write some of Catra's reactions.
> 
> Dear reader, thank you for reading. I sincerely hope you stick around. Bye-bye!


End file.
